Pain
by Ten-Faced
Summary: Injured by a Hunter, Vampire Prince Gakupo can't consume blood without putting himself in extreme pain. The Healer Luka wants to get rid of his agony using any way she can, but sometimes, the cure is more devastating than the injury itself. Gakupo/Luka. For solitaryloner's Stress Relief Contest.
1. Chapter 1

My first entry for solitaryloner's contest. Also my first 'official' multi-fic.

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"Brr!" Ring Suzune, a vibrant young actress with a light, cheerful personality shivered in the cold of the night. After a hard day of filming her movie, all the young woman wanted to do was to go home. Sadly, to do that she needed to reach her car, and to get to the vehicle she would have to go through the biting cold. Her white sundress, reaching to her knees and made with a thin fabric, did nothing to help her keep her body heat to herself.

In the darkness above her, a silent figure scoffed mentally at the weakness his prey was showing, and silently prepared to strike. The predator, unlike his prey, was in all black, what most would call 'gothic', 'punkish', or even 'emo'. A few of his many silver chains hanging from his belt clinked against each other, but the senses of the human below failed to pick up the sound.

"Oh, Ring!" The young woman with light blue hair turned to face her friend, who had called her name.

"Piko! I thought you left for home already!" She greeted the silver-haired assistant director as warmly as she could in a cold parking lot.

"Ha ha, I did, but I forgot to get the files for the equipment, see."

Laughing, Ring teased her friend mercilessly. "Oh, the great Piko finally slips! How the mighty has fallen!"

Even from above, Gakupo Kamui, two hundred year old Vampire Prince, could see that the man with heterochromia was rolling his dual-coloured eyes. "Unlike you, I don't make it a habit to forget everything of importance."

"Yeah, well, I think you've forgotten your wife is waiting for you," Ring grinned. "Isn't _that_ a thing of importance?"

His green and blue eyes widened in terror. Gakupo sneered disdainfully. He had no idea what real terror was. To be the prey, and awaken for real with a ruthless predator after you. Your heart would frantically beat, and your body would produce hormones and adrenaline, desperately trying to get you to run from the dangerous being that would drain you of your lifeblood.

But, of course, he would not learn, not tonight. After all, it was the woman he was after.

"Crap! Miki's going to kill me!" He started to run back towards his car. "Alright, see you tomorrow, and don't be late!"

"I won't!" she called after him, and then began to make her way to the lonely silver convertible waiting for its owner.

Silently, the vampire slipped from the tree he had hidden in, and snuck up onto the woman. She really was a pretty thing, with light blue hair like starlight and pale milky skin giving off a tantalizing scent. He knew that her eyes were amazing, and as much as he would have loved to take her to his mansion-

-An unbelievable pain struck through his chest, just below his heart. Hissing, he leapt back from the woman, clawing at the stake in his heart.

"Vampire scum," sneered the woman, her large sparkling eyes shining maliciously.

"Filthy hunters," he spat back. Literarily, as a glob of blood struck the ground at her feet.

"If it's so filthy, why'd you try to drink it?" she taunted, grabbing another sharpened piece of wood from her purse. He nearly swore at the annoying thing, only years of discipline holding back the vile words at his tongue. Blessed with powers against his kind, those stupid chunks of wood were made for one thing; to cut through their fortified and magicked skin.

Instead of deigning to answer, Gakupo silently thought as he assessed the girl.

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Ring narrowed her eyes as she gripped the blessed stake that was her only defense.

Why, oh why did all of these undead bloodthirsty freaks have to be so damned gorgeous? It was hard enough to kill an innocent-looking girl who would rip your throat out with amazing skill and ease, but a sexy man who was totally yummy? So. Fucking. Un. Fair.

Her current target was no exception. While he looked feminine, there was something about the way he carried himself that made him unmistakably male, and an Alpha male at that. Or maybe that was his height, towering over her 160cm by at least twenty centimeters. He had long dark purple hair tied back into a ponytail, his bangs were arranged messily with a few streaks of black, something that contrasted greatly against his pale skin and mauve eyes and made him look like a supermodel for Goths. He was dressed in black, loose shirt and lots of black and silver jewelry, and a leather belt collar connected to his belt with a thin chain wrapped his pale neck, hiding what she knew would be the unmistakable mark of vampires. A short-sleeved hoodie, ragged at the ends and flaring around him completed the bloodsucker look, a perfect modern-day Dracula.

Well, he was bleeding through a hole in his chest and hissing at her, but small details could be overlooked.

"So, I thought you leeches were supposed to be all, 'stay incognito' and all that shit," she said aloud, one hand rummaging for the pendant that would keep her from being one of the Undead in case he bit her. "Attacking a talented actress and recognized singer isn't such a good idea for that, you know."

He sneered, twisting his attractive features into… Okay, she had to admit, something even more attractive. "Your voice is annoying."

"Insulting a hunter?" she put her free hand on her hip and made a tsk-tsk sound. "Big mistake, death boy."

If looks could kill, Ring would have burned to death. Instead of carrying on with the silent threat given to her, however, he merely ripped out the wood, throwing away the contaminated weapon before sprouting giant bat wings and flying off.

The blue-haired actress kept her head straight, posture defensive until he was out of sight.

Then her knees buckled, forcing her to fall to the ground showing fear on her delicate face. "Not too bad for my first solo-fighting!" she told herself, laughing shakily.

The night didn't answer back, and Ring pulled herself into her car, taking deep breaths to calm herself.

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Snarling, Gakupo grabbed the front of his shirt, irritated at the slow rate he was healing. The fabric, dark as the night he hunted in, ripped into shreds at his tough nails. On his pale skin, the red hole oozed out blood. Blood that had belonged to his past victims.

"Milord?" A voice cautiously asked.

"Yes?" He still stared at his wound. The girl had missed his heart, and yet it wasn't healing. Perhaps it was because he hadn't hunted yet.

"Your mother requires your presence," the purple-haired Vampire Prince finally spared a glance to one of the few Supernatural servants serving at Kamui Manor.

"What does she want, Lily?"

The blonde shrugged, and bowed her head. "She merely stated that it was of considerable emergency, Your Highness."

Gakupo decided that whatever it was, it wasn't worth having his mother unleash her wrath on him. Quickly, he grabbed a fresh shirt and pulled it on, thankful that he had removed all the jewelry on him when he had come back home.

"Let's see what she wants, then," he strode out of the room, ignoring the throbbing pain at his chest. He'd been through worse.

Slamming his door closed, Gakupo glided down the black-walled hallway with the grace only the Supernaturals of this world possessed, passing the occasional servant, both human and Supernatural who would pause in their work to bow in respect to their only prince.

As he came closer and closer to his mother's room, he noticed a scent of someone familiar. Ah, so this was why he was needed.

He nodded to the maid who had followed silently, giving her the signal to step forward and knock firmly on the sturdy wood of the door separating his mother's quarters from him. "Lady Kamui, the prince is here."

"Send him in," ordered a haughty voice, and Lily quickly opened the door for him, allowing him to pass.

It was a large room, the walls covered with black silk much like his own chambers. However, her wall furnishings had stripes of deep violet running down vertically, and the room was much bigger. In the end lay a King-sized bed where two women sat.

With the speed of vampires, he flitted across the room and stopped in a kneel. "Mother."

"Rise, my son," Ordered Gakuko Kamui, widowed Queen of the Western Vampires. He did so, and shot a glance at the other woman.

"Hi, big brother," Gumi fluttered her fingers and giggled.

Gakupo did not reply, and instead turned his attention back to his mother, making the green-haired princess pout.

"The Prince of the Northern Vampires is here," she informed her son, carefully inspecting her nails for any unfortunate specks of dust. "Go amuse him, and don't start the next Dark Wars," she said this as if Gakuko believed that his son would be stupid enough to reveal the presence of Vampires to humans.

He bowed wordlessly, and left the room. The heavy doors shut behind him with a resounding slam.

At the sound, a blue-haired man slinked out of the plentiful darkness in the manor, smirking in an arrogant, haughty way. Like Gakupo, he was dressed in black, but his clothes were more formal, a black suit with a crisp white dress shirt underneath, the red tie surprisingly not clashing with his azure hair. Shining black shoes barely made a sound as the man walked up to him.

Kaito Shion, the Vampire Prince of North, saluted him mockingly. "I bet I can get more girls than you," he taunted, his words of greetings being ones daring his friend.

Gakupo grinned, dropping his princely attitude. "You wish."

"Well, as much as I'd love to prove that I am, by far, more superior and attractive than you, your mother tells me that I should not lead you out in your condition."

"My _what?_"

Kaito shot a look at him. "Your pregnancy, of course," he said, perfectly serious, and ducked to avoid Gakupo's punch, laughing.

"I'm joking, Gak, chill. I'm talking about you being staked," at his words, Gakupo remembered the actress hunter and the wound that healed ridiculously slowly. No matter, a drink of blood would close the thing up.

"I am fine," he said stiffly. "There is no need to stay inside."

"Well, tell that to your mother," replied Kaito. "We're staying in your house tonight."

"So all we are to have are going to be human slaves," noted Gakupo drily. "Great."

"I don't know," Kaito murmured, thoughtful. "Your slaves _are_ pretty…." He said the last part while shooting Lily a look.

"Lily is a vampire," Gakupo was amused at the barely concealed look of irritation on his maid's face.

"I know," sighed Kaito.

Clapping his friend on the shoulder, Gakupo began to lead the way to the dungeons where the 'snack packs' were kept. "Time for dinner, I suppose."

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As he opened the heavy rusting door to the dungeons, he noticed the smell of fear increasing dramatically. Unlike his opinions on the silver-haired man earlier that night, Gakupo didn't consider them as ignorant to the feeling of true fear. These humans _had_ known the feeling of being hunted in the night, the true terror that was sealed inside all mortals before an encounter with a Supernatural open inside of them.

"Why do you only have girls?" questioned Kaito, idly glancing down at the rows of female humans chained up to the cold brick walls of the dungeons.

"Tastier," answered Gakupo without thinking, making the nearest girl's eyes widen even further.

"I'll take your word for it," Kaito wasn't really listening as he looked at the girls he could eat. "Ooh! I like this one!"

The one he picked was a small girl with black hair and golden eyes, who held her head high and refused to show any fear, despite both men being able to sense the terror coming from her.

"Doesn't she remind you of chocolate and caramel ice cream?" beamed the Northern Vampire, unclasping the chains from the wall.

Scoffing, Gakupo just grabbed the one closest to him. "What is with you and your ice cream comparisons?"

Shrugging, Kaito left the dark dungeon, followed by Gakupo and the chosen meals.

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Each vampire had a different style of feeding. Some would keep them alive, taking enough to keep the human alive so they could regenerate more. Others would just shred them to pieces, violent and brutal.

The Prince from the North did not use those methods. Kaito would snap the victim's neck when they didn't suspect, and drain them dry, as he did now to the girl. She never felt a thing, but would have died with anxiousness in her heart. To Gakupo, this affected the taste of the blood, and that was something he did not enjoy.

The method he used was different. "Sleep," he ordered his choice, layering his voice with the hypnotic charm. She complied, relaxed and free of fear at the end.

He sank his fangs into her neck, relishing the feel that had been kept back from him, and began to suck the blood-

-Only to scream and throw the girl across the room as a familiar pain blazed once more, stronger than ever. The blood that had run down his throat should have given him a soothing feeling of contentment, of dried land happy at the water rushing to wet and moisten it again.

This feeling, this pain was abnormal. Instead of healing, it damaged, setting fire to where there should have been soothing water. Worse, it also made his unhealed wound burn again with renewed pain.

"Gakupo!" alarmed, the blue-haired prince grabbed his friend, and gawked at the sight.

The wounded man had clawed away his shirt again in pain, and the hole in his chest was red, not only from blood but from infection, something extremely rare with Vampires.

"Call the healer!" he yelled out, and a rush of footsteps hammered through the mansion at his command.

The last thing Gakupo remembered before blacking out was the dreadful pain, shredding through his veins around his chest.

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The song that inspired me for this fic - www. youtube watch?v=L4IeKL1rBds

The pictures for Gakupo - www. zerochan 1038563 and www. zerochan 1038564

Luka appears next chapter...probably.


	2. Chapter 2

Second chapter...

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Vampires were creatures of destruction, of death and sorrow and blood. They had been dead formerly, but lived through a method of sorcery lost to mankind forever, and the blood of others running through their veins filing them with stolen animation. The only organ inside of them that functioned in a similar matter to its original functions was the heart, filled with dark magic to pump the blood of others through the dead body, to keep it in mimicry of life and give it special powers. Certain things had to be given up, such as contact with the sun and aging, but powers like heightened strength and senses as well as charm and Vampiric magic made up for them.

In the Vampire Society, there were certain castes, assigned by the abilities you showed. The royalty of the undead, the Kings, the Queens, the Princes and Princesses were the only members of the Vampires that could actually turn humans into the Undead, and were revered as gods by the other undead creatures, especially now that they were the only ones who could give the gift of second life.

Other stations existed below, everyone having a certain duty to fulfill. Those gifted in fighting would become a Vampire General, leaders of an army in case it was needed. Strong psychics would use their gifts to blend in among humans to hide the rest of the Undead, and the average Vampire would serve as average soldiers, ready at the beck and call of the Royals.

Healers were an entirely different matter. They went against the very nature of Vampires, bringing someone back from the brink of their second death to live once more as they had been, making sure the wound did not kill using their own life force. While respected, the general population avoided them, isolating them from the rest of the undead unless they were needed.

Luka Megurine was a Vampire Healer. Unlike most healers, her sole purpose in living was to stay in the residence of the Kamui family, and ensure that any wounds, if inflicted, were to be healed, even if she was to give up her own life.

Despite the entire sacrifice-yourself-to-save-the-Royal-Family pressure, she often found herself bored. The Kamui's never really did anything dangerous or risky, and the biggest thing she had treated had been when Lady Kamui had drunk poisoned blood. Hardly life-threatening.

At least, until today, when the prince had fallen unconscious from a wound that apparently would not close up. Worried, Luka flitted down with the blond maid who had been sent to summon her to the Eastern End of the Mansion. Entering the room, the pink-haired vampire had to stop and bow to the two Royal women in the room.

"Ah, there you are," Luka tried to not gawk, but she had a hard time doing so. The calm, unshakable lady Kamui was clearly distressed, trails of bloody tears under her eyes and hair wild, clothes rumpled from throwing a fit.

Only thoughts of the patient moved her away from the Queen.

"What happened?" she asked, already moving to the prince in his bed. Unconscious, he was dressed in modern clothes of black, his face grim and in pain. His shirt had been ripped, so she cleared away the pieces getting in the way to reveal the large, gaping hole the size of a man's fist that pierced through his entire torso. Luckily, it had missed the heart.

The thing that scared her the most, however, was just how human he looked. Flushed and – dare she say it – _sweating_ watered-down blood, he resembled a human who had a great fever.

"He was staked by a hunter, but apparently, it wouldn't heal," offered the princess. "Kaito says he freaked out when he drank blood," the petite and beautiful princess looked like she was enjoying her brother's pain just a little _too_ much, green eyes sparkling with interest.

Luka pulled out the chair next to the large, luxurious bed and sat, eyes still on the terrible injury. "I'll do my best," she promised, already pulling on the healing powers she possessed. She felt the rest of the occupants of the room flinch at the sight of her glowing hands.

"See that you do," ordered Lady Kamui as she left the room, followed by everyone else.

Luka paid them no mind as she smoothed out his hair. The locks and strands of dark violet stuck to both their skins, damp with reddish sweat.

"Does it feel better?" she murmured as her life force began to flow to him.

He didn't answer, but something in his grimacing countenance relaxed, just a little.

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An hour later, she stumbled out of the room, gasping in exhaustion and thirst for life. "Blood," she croaked at the nearest servant, unable to go to the kitchen on her own.

The woman shot her a sympathetic look, and flitted away for a moment before reappearing, a glass bottle of blood in her hands.

Luka snatched at the red liquid greedily, and gulped it down, not caring about the little drops splashing onto her white dress.

Once it was empty, she sighed in content, letting the maid take it from her hands. She hadn't quite appreciated what a good amount of blood felt like when she was thirsty for a long time, and it felt _marvelous_.

"What have you found out?" asked the woman, and Luka recognized the blonde to be the Head Maid Lily.

She sighed. What _had_ she found out, other than the fact that this problem needed to be solved quickly? "I believe he's been poisoned," she admitted, and her theory on how some kind of holy substance that repelled blood and kept him from healing through consumption of said liquid was around the injury spilled out of her lips.

Lily nodded, face straight. "I will inform milady of this," she announced in her graceful, polite way. "If there are any new developments, or anything you require, then please tell us immediately."

Luka nodded, already refreshed by the blood running through her body. Watching the blonde flit away, she walked back into the room.

Purple eyes, half-lidded and curious, met her. Without flinching, Luka bowed, and introduced herself, and told him of her observations. "Your Majesty, please do not mind my presence," she added. "I am to be gone as soon as you are fully recovered," she didn't want him doubting her, so she decided to add a few words for him. "I promise I'll heal you, and get rid of the pain."

He didn't do anything but close his eyes.

For the first time in her life, Luka was actually in the same room as the prince, and all she could feel for him was pity.

Brushing his bangs back, she began to once again channel her energy into him, trying to give him the substance he needed to survive without actually making him drink.

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Finally, after two months, he was strong enough to sit up in his bed. Luka tried to make him lie down, but he refused to do so.

"It's bad enough I must suffer this pain," he told her in clipped words. "But I will not be humiliated."

The hole in his chest was slowly closing up, although it required a lot of effort on Luka's part. The amount of blood she drank doubled, and then tripled, yet she was still exhausted and thirsty most of the time.

"Please inform me if there is any pain," she told him, pretty sure that he was hiding a lot of the agony he felt from everyone else.

He paused before opening his mouth. "If I admit to feeling pain, will you tell anyone else?"

Luka shook her head. He seemed relieved at this.

"I feel pain," he gestured to the ragged hole that was currently wrapped up in bandages. Since the only way he could receive energy was through her, she didn't want him to lose his blood. "It aches now, but when I drank, it…" he seemed to be struggling for a word to describe it. "It was awful," he finally concluded, his gaze haunted as it stared at nothing in particular.

The pink-haired healer had nothing she could say to that. After an awkward silence, she pulled on a false cheerful voice. "It'll all go away soon, so just keep fighting!"

Even to her own ears, it sounded fake, but he smiled at her gratefully.

And if her heart could have, it would have beaten faster, making her flush with joy and embarrassment. Instead, it continued on to beat in the regular, dull way the magic in her commanded the organ to move. But she still blushed, and busied herself preparing new bandages.

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"Nrgh!" Gakupo tried to not let any sound through his clenched teeth, but the damage was done. His healer woke instantly, and hurried to his side, hands already glowing like they had for the last seven months she had been with him.

Gakupo would have told her to go back to sleep and let him be, but a spasm of pain shot through his body. "Aargh!"

Cool hands touched his fevered head. "Pain, pain, go away," she cooed, the childish song partly distracting him. "Don't come near, don't come here."

He sighed as the coldness drove out the fierce heat from his body, stopping his shouts of agony. Through a haze of blurriness, he thought he saw her smile tiredly.

"I'll be right back," she promised him, and left the room. Most likely to get more blood.

Gakupo missed her already, her cherry-blossom scent fading from the air of the room, and somehow robbing him of what little strength he had.

Even with Luka pouring every bit of energy she could into him, it wasn't enough. He thoughtfully ran his thin fingers across the bandages, feeling the hole just a little bit smaller than it had been originally. How much longer could he last until the lack of blood wore him out?

Not much longer.

Grimacing, Gakupo forced himself up, ignoring the buzzing pain in his upper body, and slowly made his way to the door.

Sadly, Luka heard him move, and flitted to his side immediately. "Milord, please go back!" she cried, clearly alarmed at his apparent recklessness.

He shook his head, and through sheer will, managed another step. "I need blood."

"I'll get you anything if you go back to bed!" she promised. And she would have, Luka realized. Even if he asked her to die a slow, torturous death, she would have done so willingly. The thought made her look away in mortification, face reddening with stolen blood.

Gakupo looked at her, mildly amused before the pain throbbed back, making him wince.

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This is a pretty short fic. Just saying. It'll end next chapter.

Review. I'm begging you, the inspiration for writing is dying when I don't know what people think about my writing.

**~Ten-Faced~**


	3. Chapter 3

Last Chapter already...

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His stubborn insistence on drinking blood gave him pain attacks, often resulting in him biting something to prevent screaming, but it made him feel a lot better than simply living off 'borrowed' energy. Still, the most he could manage to swallow was a small cupful, and this would only prolong the time he had left before he became too weak. For a vampire, the year he had spent incapacitated should have gone by in the blink of an eye. The injury prolonged the endless hours he spent staring at the ceiling, and made him feel weak. Made him feel like a mortal _human_.

Luka knew that, and this made her worried. Worse, random attacks of pain would strike him now, and this hurt him far more than the others could, because he couldn't prepare himself for enduring the pain and would show his true reaction to his suffering, damaging his pride.

One day, after one of his seizures, he lay panting while Luka gathered the blood. "Please open your mouth," she requested.

He slumped, and Luka could see the mental strain and exhaustion in his eyes as he so desperately looked at her for deliverance from this torture. It broke her heart to see him like this.

And she knew what she had to do.

"Just…" she steeled herself. "Just put up with it for a few more days. I think I have an idea on how to fix this little troublesome guy."

It may have hurt her, knowing what she was going to have to give up, but it made him smile in relief, his once-hopeless eyes filling with renewed vigour now that an end was in sight.

Two ends, in fact.

Perhaps he sensed it, because after the blood was taken in, he beckoned for her to come closer.

When she walked up, confusion evident in her eyes, he grabbed her wrist, pulled her closer, and planted a kiss on her cheek. "Thank you," he whispered, velvet voice hoarse from shouting in pain, and released her.

Embarrassed, but surprisingly happy, she fled from the room.

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For three days, the residents of the castle bustled around the city near them, kidnapping as much as humans as they could. Most of them were homeless, or wouldn't have been missed when they died. Still, a lot of caution had to be used when fifty people went missing in one area. Or at least it did when Lady Kamui was in charge of the operation. Normally, she would not have risked even that, but the state of her blood-son's health overwhelmed the caution that had allowed her to rise to power.

Out of the fifty taken, about ten were immediately killed once brought to the manor, and drained into large casks, and then taken to a small chamber next to the prince's bedroom, where Luka stayed.

She drank and drank, not caring that her body was protesting at the amount of liquid in her as she finished off the last jug, and sighed. While she felt bloated with the red ruby blood pounding through her veins with a fury she hadn't felt for a long time, she also felt full for the first time since Prince Gakupo had been hurt, power thrumming within her.

Shame it wouldn't last long.

Two more people were killed after, and their blood was brought to the prince in casks while a third waited in drugged terror, in case another's would be needed.

Luka walked into the chamber where Gakupo lay, eager to finish this. He sat up, smiling despite the pangs of agony echoing through his body. "You seem drunk," he commented. "And happy."

She couldn't say anything to that. She _was_ drunk, the lifeblood of ten people in her, circling around and filling her like she had never been. For the past months – no, _year,_ – Luka had been unable to fully get the amount she needed, but now she was completely nourished. As for happy… well, he'd be better, and that was all she needed to know.

Luka decided to not give an answer. Instead, she reached out and cleared away his bangs for the last time. "It'll hurt," she warned him, wishing there was ways to do this without causing him even more of the agonizing discomfort.

He took hold of her hand and held it against his cheek for a moment. "I know."

She still decided to go over the procedure, mostly to distract herself from him. "You must keep on drinking, even if you become full, until you pass out."

"I know," he replied with patience, and tugged her arm, pulling her onto his bed. She didn't struggle, knowing that the resistance would cause him unnecessary pain.

Carefully, he looped his lean, long arm around her and leaned into her hair, making her stiffen as she tried to draw back. Even if she wanted to stay….

He lifted his head, and shot a pleading look. "Please," he whispered, his eyes so damned and gorgeous and her resolve to make it easier for him crumbled, letting him push her down onto the bed.

The servants outside ignored whatever words or sounds they heard with their special hearing, and continued to do their tasks.

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She pulled out of his grasp, careful to not dislodge his arm, and grabbed her dress from the floor. He watched her, not showing emotion.

"We lost time over that," Luka informed him as she pulled her dress on.

He shrugged as he rose, reaching for his own clothing. "I regret nothing."

Luka hid a half-smile, half-grimace before walking out and draining the man kept waiting in case of an emergency. The pink-haired woman could barely walk with all of the blood in her, threatening to overflow, but she had no choice.

One less drop of the life-giving fluid could mean disaster.

The maid Lily paused as she brought in one of the casks. "He loves you, you know," she quietly whispered, purposely talking when Princess Gumi was inside the room, chattering to her brother enthusiastically.

Luka nodded, swallowing a lump in her throat. "It's the pain," she tried to defend him. "And the hunger. He can't make proper decisions because of them."

The blonde snorted lightly, and carried in the large container. "Yeah, and I'm a fairy princess."

She didn't look back to face Luka's dark stare, but she could feel it boring into the back of her head.

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"Grah!" Gakupo growled in a strange, gurgled mixture of pain, frustration and triumph, his cry signaling the emptying of one cask. He snarled, blood dripping down his face onto black robes and sheets, face still paler than anything living despite the amount of blood he had just consumed.

The image of a true vampire.

Taking a deep breath, he steadied himself before nodding at Luka, the signal for her to tip the cask to his mouth. He swallowed, and she could feel him slowing his pace.

Worried, she squeezed his hand, and felt the larger one squeeze back before the pace resumed back to its original speed.

"Another one!" Luka called out, eyes still meeting his as he painfully forced himself to swallow each and every burning mouthful. Silently, one manservant entered, hauling two more of the large jugs, each holding the blood of one person.

This time, Gakupo didn't vent his frustrations with a roar; he spat a mouthful of blood across the room, coughing as his body fought itself, both craving and rejecting the crimson fluid.

Arm snaking out, Luka grabbed another vat and held it to his lips. He didn't deny the liquid entrance from his lips, and opened wider so it could be poured in more easily. Truly, his determination was extraordinary.

But Luka could feel him weakening, shudders running through his body as he was reaching his limit.

"Just a little more," she begged him, and felt him swig the burgundy blood quicker.

Suddenly, he jerked, and fell back into the bed, eyes rolling back as a groan escaped his stained lips.

Taking a deep breath, she finished off the other half of the bottle, and threw it to the side.

She pushed back her pink hair, deciding to tell him about her feelings before she did this. "I love you," she told him, and kissed him, bloodstained lips meeting bloodstained ones.

Luka wanted that moment in time to freeze, for the two of them to be like that forever. Still, she pulled away and lit up her hands, making them glow far brighter than they had ever done.

"Heal," she commanded the Vampire charms and healing powers she possessed to compel both the blood in her body and his to give all of their restorative properties to him. "Heal!" Luka repeated with more force, and the light shone brighter.

She could do this. She could, and would liberate him from all of the physical and mental torture he had gone through.

The life energy sapped out of her rapidly as it filled him and drove out the holy poison.

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Gakupo blinked, and raised his upper body. There was something missing….

The pain. While a year was nothing in the life of a vampire, this one had dragged on, causing him distress at every twitch. It was a miracle, to move as flawlessly as he had.

"You're awake," noted his mother. He flashed her a smile of actual joy, and received a small one from his Vampire Sire in return. "How do you feel?"

"Like a vampire," he moved gingerly, expecting pain at every single movement. None came, and he began to move more fluidly and quickly, until he was flitting around the large room, a large grin spreading foolishly on his face while she watched, amused and relieved.

"Alright, that's enough childish behaviour for a prince," Lady Kamui finally ordered him to stop after five minutes, the novelty of his recovery seemingly worn off. "Drink some blood. Apparently, the healing used up all of the ones you drank."

Nodding, Gakupo began to move towards the door, and paused. The Healing…. "Where's Luka?"

"Who?" his mother was avoiding his eyes deliberately. Suspicious.

"The Healer, mother. The one that ended all of my hardships."

"I was not aware that you were on first-term relationships with the Healer, young prince. Go fill yourself with blood, and then we shall talk."

Swallowing back a snarky reply, he left the room, but not before trying to catch the scent of cherry blossoms.

There were none.

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"Where is she?" Being a Vampire Prince wasn't just about inheriting the throne, or the power you wielded. It was about appearances, and Gakupo knew that his voice had to contain just the right amount of interest, as well as persuasion and command.

Gumi bit her lip, trying to avoid his piercing eyes. "You can't find her? Wow, Gak, lame."

"Where is she?" he repeated, a bit more force behind his words now. Gumi had never lasted long against him, and she never would. His sister was just too weak-willed compared to him.

The green-haired girl crumbled. "I don't know! No one told me anything!" she panicked. "All I know is that they carried her out!"

He left, flitting to the only person in the mansion that could and would tell him of Luka's whereabouts.

"Lily!" he shouted, ignoring the frightened stares of human slaves. "Answer me!"

The humans saw a golden streak stopping in front of him abruptly to reveal the blonde vampire. Gakupo saw her darting out of a room he had never paid attention to before.

"Yes, milord?" she asked, smoothing out her clothes. The movement carried the faint scent of cherry blossoms to his now-functioning nose.

"Where is she?" he realized, later, that he knew the answer, had known the answer since awakening. Why Luka hadn't been there when he awoke, and why she hadn't come when she should have heard him rampaging across the manor. But perhaps he had refused to admit her loss.

Lily had the decency to do two things; not pretend to misunderstand, and tell the truth. "She died."

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If he hadn't been taken to the chamber to see the last of Luka, Gakupo knew he would have never believed her death. Perhaps that was why his mother allowed it.

She lay on the bed, pale like always, eyes closed and still. Gakupo waited, for even the slightest movement so he could trick himself and pretend she was only sleeping.

Luka didn't move. Her white dress didn't stir, and her chest didn't rise or thump with her heart. She really was dead.

The reality struck him. The truth struck him, harder and faster than the stake that had caused all of this, and it hurt much, much more. Pain flooded his chest again, and he fell to his knees, burying his face into her long hair as red-tinted tears leaked out of his eyes.

_"I promise I'll heal you, and get rid of the pain."_

"It hurts, Luka," he gasped, clutching his recently closed-up chest. He knew he sounded like a weak child, but he couldn't care less at the moment. "It hurts! Why does it hurt? I-it should be gone with you! You p-promised you would get rid of it!"

But the corpse of the girl he loved didn't stir, and he continued to shed reddish tears as he cried in pain and heartbreak, and this time, the pain was far worse, because the only person that could have gotten rid of it was gone forever.

* * *

_~~~It's a very hurtful pain that hurts him~~~_

* * *

I really hate the ending, but that was the best I could do. *winces in shame* The last line was inspired by the title of the song that partly inspired this fic.

Review? And hope you liked it, solitaryloner!

Thank you to everyone who read/reviewed/put it on alert/favorited Pain!

**~Ten-Faced~**


	4. Chapter 4

When a Vampire mourned, they mourned like it was nobody's business. And Gakupo was taking this all too seriously.

At least, that was how it was to Kaito's eyes.

He had been draining a girl dry when the message had come. Normally, he'd have received the message, and gone to him after a few days.

The fact that the messenger was Lady Kamui Gakuko herself sent alarms going off in his head.

"I thought he healed!" Kaito cried out in surprise when she informed him her son was not leaving the room for anything, even blood.

"Not in his heart, it seems," the queen told him, and in her ancient, long-dead eyes, Kaito saw sadness.

Huh. A caring Vampire Dowager Queen. That was a new one.

He immediately took off to Gakupo's castle with Lady Kamui, and when Gumi burst out of the mansion barefoot with frantic eyes, he knew it was really serious. Princess Gumi was notorious in the Supernatural World for not going anywhere until she was properly and primly dressed, decked from head to toe in designer clothing.

Now, she was in a dirty and ragged nightgown that was probably once white, but now was crusted in blood, grime, and something he didn't quite want to find out, although his nose told him a different story.

"Oh, good," she sighed. "He's here."

The maid, Lily, followed her Princess out, and ushered the three of them in. There, Gumi and the Queen patted his back and wished him luck as Lily lead him further down the hall, until they were in front of Gakupo's room.

"Milord," Lily called. "We have a visitor."

"Go away," a muffled voice called back, and Kaito was shocked. The voice, ragged and heartbroken as it was, was familiar to him as the once chocolate smooth baritone of his best friend.

Vampires shouldn't have suffered this kind of damage to their psyche by any physical attack.

"Gakupo, I'm coming in," he announced, and before there could be any protests, he yanked the doors open and barged in. "I'm in."

"Leave," the man leaning on the bed who had turned to face him was almost impossible to identify as Kamui Gakupo, but Kaito managed to find the formerly handsome man from the mass of tangled purple hair and sunken eyes.

He ignored his friend's command. "Now that," he commented, leaning on the doorway. "Is how a Vampire should look. Terrifying, ugly, vicious, and dead."

"I am dead," he replied, and went back to staring at what lay on the bed.

Kaito walked up, and realized just what was occupying the large, king-sized bed. On top of the black satin, the silk, the not-necessary coverlets, blankets, and sheets lay a beautiful pink haired woman, dressed in a flawless white dress that juxtaposed greatly against the pitch black. Her eyes were closed, and she lay absolutely still, in the frozen way of statues.

Statues… or corpses.

His friend was heartbroken because a lady he loved had died.

That, Kaito could relate to. Somewhat. "I never knew."

"I thought…" he trailed off. "I thought that she'd be with me."

"Vampire?" his friend had at least had that.

Gakupo nodded, mute. Tears tinted red pooled at his eyes, but he didn't shed them.

"How long?"

"A year."

"She's been dead for a year?" Kaito couldn't keep the disbelief out of his voice. There was no way it had been that long. Even for supposedly immortal beings, that was just such a long time. Besides, the last time he had seen Gakupo hadn't but been barely a year.

"I've known her that long."

"Great. How long has she been dead?"

Gakupo flinched, and Kaito felt a stab of guilt at his friend's pain. "A week."

Kaito considered the times. Vampires did decay after their second death, just so slowly that it would take over a month for the first hint of rot to show on their corpses. So this woman should still be able to…"Good. Get her body, and come with me. You have your car, right?"

Almost lifeless eyes stared back. "What?"

"Fresh air will do you and your beloved good," Kaito told him, rummaging in the drawers for something Gakupo could wear. Now that he saw, his purple-haired friend was wearing… ick. A black robe, the kind necromancers often wore. And it wasn't even clean. "Change into something nice. And by nice, I mean formal. Really, really formal."

"What?" he repeated.

"You don't mind if I borrow a tux, do you? We had the same size, the last time I checked, so it should fit."

"Kaito…."

"I know someone," he finally admitted, even if Gakupo hadn't directly asked the question. "She might be able to help…. You know."

There! A spark! FINALLY!

"But she will refuse if you are wearing that," Kaito added. "And take a shower, put some expensive cologne on, hell, brush your hair!"

Gakupo ran off to do so, and while he did, Kaito rummaged his closet. "Why the Hell are there only purple ties?!" he roared out the door, and was rewarded with a blank-faced Lily coming in with a selection of various coloured ties. "That's better."

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Queen Gakuko's efforts at trying to make her son better were rewarded when her son finally came down the stairs, dressed in a crisp, clean business suit. She sighed in relief and actually smiled, something which was gawked on by her servants. The Prince coming out of the mourning they thought would never end. The Princess going around dressed in rags. And now, the Queen actually showing emotion. It was an odd time, to be sure. Perhaps the world _was_ really ending.

Her smile became a little strained when she noticed Kaito wearing something similar that she swore belonged to her son. And finally, it became all too nonexistent when she saw servants carrying the dead Healer down. "What?"

"Apologies, mother," her son swooped in to kiss her cheek hastily. "But we've no time for explanations."

"We have plenty, actually," Prince Shion piped in, but cowered at the glare her son shot him. "No, on second thought, we're on a very tight schedule. Hurry, rush, we're sure you understand. Don't mind me, I'm just an idiot. BaKaito, they call me."

She ignored him. "Where are you going?"

He barely glanced at her, just kept walking forward. "I don't know."

Kaito, muttering excuses and apologies, ran after them, while their servant ran after them, trying to walk both fast and slow to not damage the dead girl.

Gumi walked out of a room, eyes widened to the point where it was unladylike. "Was that…?" she couldn't finish, it seemed.

She nodded.

"What…?"

"I don't know," she repeated her son's last words to her. "And apparently, neither does he."

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"And now you're not the classic Vampire," Kaito commented. Gakupo kept his mouth shut. "Although, nowadays, the 'classic' Vampire seems to be some kind of sparkling abnormality. Something about twilight, I think."

"Thank you, Rei," Gakupo nodded to the black-haired boy, who simply bowed after placing Luka into the back of his car. He began to get into the driver's seat, but Kaito laid a hand on his shoulder.

"You don't know the location. I do."

His favorite car… or Luka.

Gakupo went around the car to sit in shotgun, while the drive maniac got behind the wheels.

"I always wanted to see how fast we could go in this," he mused dreamily, and before Gakupo could get his seat belt on for safety, he stepped on it.

Hell hath no fire like the burning wheels of a sports car with a Shion Kaito behind the wheels. One of Kaito's many brothers had told Gakupo that once, and now, he saw just why.

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After the ten hour drive, where Kaito stopped only twice for gas, they were finally 'there'.

Or so Kaito claimed. Gakupo thought they were in the middle of nowhere.

"We're in the middle of nowhere," he deadpanned.

Kaito frowned. "We're in a forest," he corrected. "And we're near a mountain."

"How is this going to help her?"

Kaito didn't quite answer. "Take her out of the car, please."

Gakupo stared at his friend, trying to see what he was up to. When he couldn't' catch anything, he silently walked over to the car and gently tugged Luka out.

"You up for a little hike?" Kaito asked him once he had her in his arms.

"We're definitely in the wrong clothes for that," Gakupo said wryly, glancing down at their attire. They looked like lawyers.

"We'll live," Kaito said. "Oh, crap, sorry," he added hastily when he saw Gakupo flinch.

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"Where are we going?" Gakupo had been asking this question for the past hour. Apparently, there was some rule that you could not magically float, or flit up this mountain. Which meant the two Vampires had to go up this mountain the hard way; by climbing.

Kaito did what he had done for the past hour. He stayed silent.

But this time, he began to talk after a moment. "Did I ever tell you that I fell in love once?"

"With ice cream-flavoured blood?"

"Not that kind of love," Kaito said defensively. "The kind you had with the pink chick."

"No."

"It couldn't have been long ago," he mused. "About twenty five years ago, if I'm right.

"I was visiting the Fair Folk. You know, doing Prince Duties in case father died somehow. Not that he ever would. Old man's just got too much life in him, you know?"

"He's your father," Gakupo reminded him, shifting Luka in his arms so she wouldn't slip off. But he didn't blame Kaito. The Northern Vampire King Kikaito could be… odd. "But continue on."

Kaito took upon that order. "So there I was, chatting with a few green haired folk – your sister would like them, I think. Similar sense of humour – and there she was. A goddess, chained on the earth among unworthy mortals. She was green-haired, too, but hers were more blue-tinted. Teal. Aquamarine. Whatever you want to call it, because it just kept changing. It didn't stick to one shade, her hair. It was almost flowing, like a slow, gentle stream of water with sunlight bouncing off the surface. And it was long, down to the back of her knees. Her hair caught my eye, and then the rest of her just wouldn't let me go.

"I went up to her. Managed to say something absolutely stupid, and there I stood, thinking I messed everything up. Instead, she just laughed, and told me I was the best Vampire she'd ever met in her long life.

"We hit it off rather well. She came as the ambassador for the Fey Queen a lot to the Northern Vampires. After the official meeting, I'd escort her around, and she'd call it a date. It was a nice romance."

"What happened?"

Kaito's eyes were glazed in memories. "Three years later, she came to me and told me that she had a secret she needed to share with me. I thought it was something like a skeleton in the family, a scandal, or anything like that.

"Instead, she told me she was a god."

Of course Kaito would fall in love with a god. The one true immortal beings in the world, they generally stayed out of everything and went on living, doing whatever the gods did.

"It clicked to me then. She'd told me to call me Miku, but since that was such a common name, I didn't figure it out. Long, teal hair, friend to the Fey… Hatsune Miku, the goddess of fertility. When I had thought that she was an earthbound goddess with all her beauty, she had actually been divine.

"She told me that she wasn't allowed to be with me. Something about a rule amongst the divine ones that keeps them from mortals. But since I was something that would live for a really long time, she gave me this."

Kaito stopped, and from under his shirt, he produced a teal crystal. Gakupo had never seen it before, but Kaito obviously cherished it. "It'll always lead me to her," he said quietly. "Always."

He tucked it under his shirt again, and began the trek once more. Gakupo shifted his hold on Luka a bit, and followed.

It was like the mountain had heard Kaito's story, and decided to let them in. Within moments, they were at a clearing filled with flowers from all seasons, blooming spectacularly in one impossible gathering. At the very end was a small cave that was clearly used as a temple.

It was also like love was in the air. Animals, from the helpless rabbits to the vicious wolves lay around contentedly, playing with their young, cuddling with their mates, and coexisting harmoniously.

All in all, it put Gakupo on edge. This was unnatural.

Kaito didn't seem to mind. He just walked right through until he reached a path, and began to follow the little trail.

Not seeing a choice, Gakupo followed.

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The cave was much larger than he had thought. Inside, it was quite bright, which did not help his eyes at all. Statues of a woman with long hair tied back into two lay around, each varying in size and pose. All of them had the woman smiling. All of them were recognizable as Hatsune Miku.

There were several rooms they had to go through. Kaito seemed extremely sure of himself, but Gakupo was nervous. He didn't belong in this place, where everything was obviously of light and life. He was a creature of darkness and death.

"She's here," Kaito told him, pointing to a plain door. Reaching out, the blue-haired man knocked firmly.

"Come in," a clear, sweet voice said, giving them permission to enter.

Kaito held the door open, and Gakupo entered the room, only to snarl seeing one of the inhabitants. "You!" His fangs descended, and all of his body began to vibrate slightly from the dark magic he was calling to him.

One of the women sitting at the sofa also leapt up, a dagger in one hand and a stake in the other. "You!" she also cried out, eyes just as shocked and hateful.

Ring Suzune. The Hunter that had led to all this. In a blindingly fast, fluid movement, he put Luka gently down onto the ground and leapt at her throat, fully intending to kill her at any cost.

* * *

NOW it's complete. I lasted three months, but I couldn't resist.


End file.
